Batch processing control systems are known having recipe management and batch information systems from earlier U. S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,887, and 5,576,946. The system disclosed in the ""887 patent was a predecessor system to that disclosed in the instant application and was known as the CompuTab(trademark) and CompuFlo(trademark) systems (Trademarks of Vector Corporation). The CompuTab(trademark) and CompuFlo(trademark) systems were subsequently improved upon by prior art systems known as the CompuTab II(trademark) and CompuFlo II(trademark) systems (Trademarks of Vector Corporation). The present system disclosed in this application and known as the Compu3(trademark) (Trademark of Vector Corporation) is an improvement on the CompuTab II(trademark) and CompuFlo II(trademark) systems.
In the CompuTab II(trademark) and CompuFlo II(trademark) systems, batch processing is controlled in a batch processing machine. Such a batch processing machine can, for example, be a machine used in the pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of tablets, capsules, or the like. Such machines are complicated and perform many steps which as a group are identified herein as a xe2x80x9crecipexe2x80x9d for the production of a product. Each time the product is run, it is known as a xe2x80x9cbatchxe2x80x9d. Various process variables, such as airflow through the machine and the temperature of air must be controlled during the steps being performed according to the recipe for a particular product.
The creation of a recipe can be a difficult procedure, since experiments in many cases need to be performed when designing each step of the recipe. Furthermore, once a recipe has been created for a particular product, it is important that the management of the manufacturing companies be able to receive information concerning the running of that recipe for a particular batch. This information is also important for management and for Government agencies who regulate the operation of such a machine, such as in the pharmaceutical industry, and it is important that information concerning the running of a particular batch be safely maintained and available for inspection.
In the prior art CompuTab II(trademark) and CompuFlo II(trademark) systems, although batch processing control was provided along with recipe management and the provision of batch information, there were disadvantages to the prior art system relative to the way the system was operated and manipulated via computer screens.
It is an object of the present invention to improve on the CompuTab II(trademark) and CompuFlo II(trademark) systems and to provide improved ease of operation by an operator who is operating the system.
It is a further object of the present invention to simplify the operator/computer interface for the design of recipes, for the operation and running of those recipes, and to simplify and to provide more flexibility for the batch information system outputs.
According to the invention, a method and system is provided for operating a batch processing machine which produces a product. A computer is provided. A recipe is created with the computer for batch processing of the product, the recipe having a plurality of steps. For any of the steps, the machine can be manually operated and a snap shot be taken of operating parameters of the machine. That snap shot is then stored within the system for future retrieval. A recipe can be created with the computer and the stored snap shot can be used for creating any of the method steps of the recipe. The created recipe is used to automatically process a batch of the product. Note that the present invention also allows the operator to generate recipes without the use of snap shots.
Also, according to the invention, a method and system is provided for operating a batch processing machine for producing a product wherein a recipe is created for running batches of the product, the recipe having a plurality of steps. The recipe is created by use of an editing screen of batch processing control software by which, in a computer, individual steps of the recipe are represented by graphical icons which reflect the automatic process that the machine is to execute. A recipe matrix is also provided by which control element indicia of the machine are set forth at one axis and steps of the process are set forth on a perpendicular axis, and wherein at locations of the matrix, parameter values are displayed for the control elements which correspond with respective steps for the recipe being created. The computer has the capability of switching between the recipe editing screen and the recipe matrix screen. Prior art systems were not able to switch between these types of screens without losing and/or limiting the amount of information that can be stored within the recipe. The recipe is used to automatically operate the batch processing machine.
Also according to a method and system of the invention for operating a batch processing machine for producing the product, the batch processing machine is controlled with a computer operated by batch processing control software capable of either manually or automatically running recipes for creating batches of products on the batch processing machine. A batch management reporting system is provided as an output from the computer as an information report illustrating at various time intervals in the batch processing during either manual or an automatic mode, values of various control element parameters associated with the batch processing in the machine. A format of the batch management report can be changed after running a batch so that values of parameters for different control elements not shown in the original report for the batch are arranged in a different sequence for output and a new batch report of the changed format is generated. Manipulation of these process parameters into customized reports for management is unique.
Also according to the invention, a pop-up batch check screen is provided for allowing an operator to select either an automatic process screen or a manual process screen and wherein a section of the process screen has buttons either for manual processing or automatic processing depending upon which screen is called up. The pop-up batch check screen ensures that a batch number, entered by the manufacturer to identify the product being manufactured, has not been used in the past.
Also according to the invention, a process display screen is provided for operating the batch processing where the process display screen shows a diagram of the batch processing machine substantially from input to output and has display indicia for actual and set point values of various control element parameters of the machine with lead lines from those display indicia down to control elements of the machine to which the control element parameters correspond.